At SALPAL, we give our students access to law school course offerings on state and local government law and policy. We help students seeking clinical opportunities, externships, summer positions, and career opportunities in state courts, state legislatures and executive agencies, and associations.
We provide a Washington, DC-based forum for state and local government stakeholders and intergovernmental affairs experts.
Launched in 2019, we encourage you to reach out to us to learn more about our future plans.
Featured News
November 18, 2022
Renne Public Law Group, is hosting a fellowship program next summer and I'm hoping you will extend the opportunity to any students who may be interested.
The program is two weeks of instruction, Monday through Friday from May 22 to June 2, 2023, featuring policymakers, attorneys, and experts in local government. It is intended for law and public policy students with a strong interest in public interest work, labor and employment law, and local government. Over the course of the two weeks, the fellows will be asked to prepare a final project, which includes a 15-minute presentation and brief research paper. Upon completion of the program, each fellow will receive a $2,000 stipend. The fellowship will be remote, so students can attend from anywhere!
Students can learn more about the program and apply here: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/fellowship-program-2023/
The application period closes November 18th at 5pm, but may be extended upon request.
Featured Events
4 p.m. ET
McDonough, 5th Floor Faculty Lounge
Upcoming: What Did 2022's Midterm Election Day Mean for 2024?
Hosted by the Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law and the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service.
Until 2020, few Americans knew what the Secretary of State (SOS) for each state did. Yet now, their role in safeguarding election security and integrity is understood as a crucial component of the future of American democracy. As Secretary of State in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a key state in deciding the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election, Kathy Boockvar was involved in reassuring the public and making difficult decisions to protect election results in the Commonwealth. Trey Grayson has observed the role of SOS from the inside in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and also as a member of task forces and review committees on election integrity. For this 2022 election post-mortem, we will look at the results of races for Secretary of State races in the 2022 election, and what it will mean for 2024. We are also going to speak about the balances in state legislatures, and what that is going to mean for 2024 in terms of certifying slates of electors, and the result of State Attorney General races, since state AGs have played a role in election law challenges to federal courts.
Contact salpal@georgetown.edu by November 15th for accessibility requests.
Click the event title above to be directed to the livestream.
Featured Events
Preemption and Policymaking in Public Health Law: From Local to Global
The doctrine of preemption means that a higher level of government (e.g., federal or state government) may limit or eliminate the power of a lower level of government (e.g., state or local government) to regulate a specific issue. On its face, preemption is a neutral legal concept, but in the past decade, preemptive laws have been used with increasing regularity to thwart local policymaking that promotes health and advances equity.
This 90-minute webinar — presented by ChangeLab Solutions, the Georgetown Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law, and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law — introduced viewers to the roles of various levels of government in public health policymaking and the ways that preemption is interfering with local democratic processes.
The webinar featured keynote remarks by Dr. Jewel Mullen, followed by three panel discussions. The first panel explored recent trends in preemption, their origins, and how they relate to the advancement of health equity. The second panel considered transnational perspectives and discuss how public health authority is allocated between levels of government in other regions. The third panel examined preemption in the context of harm reduction efforts.
Find the recording, along with an introduction from Professor Meryl Chertoff, by clicking the link above.
Speakers:
• Jewel Mullen, associate dean for health equity, Dell Medical School (keynote)
• Rick Su, professor of law, University of North Carolina School of Law
• Kim Haddow, founder, Local Solutions Support Center
• Sabrina Adler, vice president of law, ChangeLab Solutions
• Renu Singh, faculty and research fellow, Bocconi University
• Marie-Louise Aren, doctoral candidate, University of Pretoria
• Felix Knüpling, vice president of programs, Forum of Federations
• Sonia Canzatter, associate director, Infectious Diseases Initiative at the O’Neill Institute
• Jennifer Oliva, Associate Dean for Faculty Research & Development and Director of the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law, Seton Hall Law
• Zachary Talbott, president and Chairman of the Board, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia
4:00 p.m.
Copley Formal Lounge, Georgetown Main Campus
In Dialogue with Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw
Next week, SALPAL will co-sponsor an event with the Georgetown Global Cities Initiative, hosting Mayor Trzaskowski and moderated by Professor Uwe Brandes. Click the event title to RSVP.
State Attorney General Offices: Charitable Institutions, Non-Profits, and Antitrust Litigation
SALPAL hosted an event for Georgetown Law students to learn more about the work that state attorneys general do in their offices, focusing on regulation of non-profits and charities. Featuring former New Jersey AG Peter Harvey and current Assistant Attorney General Leonor Miranda with the Office of the Attorney General in DC, students were able to ask questions about this work and gain valuable insight about public service in state government.
Professor Chertoff's latest article appears in the Albany Law Review. It covers the legacy of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in the realm of federal commandeering and the Tenth Amendment. "Unlike the originalist Scalia, her analysis in these cases is not focused on the reasoning of the Framers, but on their intent: to maximize the ambit of independent policy-making authority of state governmental units, cabined by accountability to voters."
The article examines Justice O'Connor's opinions in the area, opinions that built on her work after her retirement, and recent cases brought by subnational governments to push back against federal overreach, specifically immigration policies implemented by the Trump Administration, which are built on the foundation laid by Justice O'Connor. The importance of state and local legal action is highlighted by these vital cases.
Professor Chertoff has co-authored a new article on state pre-emption of local policy, published by Governing. Focusing on an unfolding case in California, where one locality is fighting the state's prohibition on new sugary drink taxes, the article examines local democracy, public health, and the conflict between state and local goals.
In this episode of Cities@Tufts, Prof. Sheila Foster, SALPAL Faculty Advisor, discusses her work with LabGov, Co-Cities, and how urban commons can be created and sustained in different political, social, and economic environments. Cities@Tufts Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice.
